Destined to be Together
by sarin68
Summary: Havi died after he stabbed himself with Vald's sword, but the group is reborn centuries later with new lives. Yug Veilund (the demon sword) appears again and causes havoc. Full prompt inside. Havi X Vald, T for now but may change, AU. Will be slow to update.
1. Chapter 1

_Hallyne failed to save Havi after Vald's sword pierced him. Demon Vald went mad and went on a rampage in the castle like in the manga, but unfortunately his powers grew too much to control and they tore him apart, causing his friends to die as well. Centuries later, they are reborn into new lives and are given a second chance._

_I will not include Rimris (haha, I hate that creep) because he is not introduced by that time in the manga. The characters won't have last names because it's confusing with their full names vs. nicknames vs. usernames (you'll understand later) so it's easier to just refer to Havi without adding Phropt to the list of names, and since Vald doesn't really have a last name other than his country it's just easier._

_I've written at least 2 full pages of notes of these characters to about OOCness, but if I mess up please forgive me. As always, I do not own Crimson Spell, and if you don't like yaoi then DON'T READ!_

* * *

Chattering filled the room. The professor standing in front of the chalkboard was getting irritated, but was trying his hardest to not lose his temper. He could always just have a pop quiz and make them fail if he wanted. He almost succeeded in calming himself with that, but a boy in the front of class breaking out into loud laughter ruined it.

Quick as lightning, the professor turned and threw his piece of chalk at the boy, hitting him between his eyes, hard enough to leave a bruise and make him stumble backwards. The room grew quiet, all of the students either staring at the boy or the professor. The boy, who had stood up to make a point to one of his friends, looked too shocked to do anything.

"Now, if I can continue," the professor continued. "We were—"

"Were you trying to kill me?!" the student barked, holding his head where the chalk had hit. "You could have missed and killed me!"

"We're going to get you for this, Professor Halvir!" one of his friends spat. "We're going to get you!" The student and two of his friends got up and left, glaring back at him the whole way.

Havi watched them leave. After the door shut he turned to the rest of the class and asked, "Would anyone else prefer to leave class?"

* * *

"You really have to stop doing things like that, Halvir," Clarissa said with a smile. "You're class has the worst drop rate already, and you scaring off potential students so late in the year is just stupid. You might be fired if this continues."

Havi shrugged. He really didn't care. He had been fired before, but had always been rehired. He was a genius after all, and many people were willing to put up with his attitude if it meant they could have him as a professor.

"You should find someone," the woman continued. "I know this really cute girl who—"

Havi held up a hand to stop her. "Please stop your efforts. I do not have time for anyone else, nor do I want anyone in my life."

She huffed. "You're always so busy professor. What exactly you do all day escapes me. You always insist you're too busy for any gatherings we have, even if it's just coffee. Your office is a mess as well! You should spend some time organizing it!"

Havi hid his smirk. "It is organized," he replied. "I can find everything just fine, but you would do well to avoid that place. You don't know what you might find."

She rolled her eyes. "You always talk like that too. Like you're a character in a fantasy novel."

Havi smiled politely but looked down at the assignments he was grading. They were the last ones of the semester, and the ten students that had stayed in his class were all 'A' students with perfect scores. "Good bye Professor," he told Clarissa, getting up and taking the assignments with him.


	2. Chapter 2

Vald smiled at the sky as he absorbed the extent of what had just happened. He felt like he was glowing, but was still sad that his brother was not with him. His friends were, but thinking of them made him wonder where they had gone. He glanced back down at everyone and spotted Trevor hugging his family. He made his way over to his best friend, smiling.

Trevor was caught in a bear hug from his older brother as Vald walked up. Trevor's mother, always like a mother to Vald, turned and beamed at her son's best friend. "Congratulations," she whispered, pulling him into a hug.

"Vald!" Trevor called once the woman had released his friend.

"Trevor!" Vald called in response. They hugged and laughed, posing for a picture Trevor's dad wanted to take.

Vald left then, it being obvious that Trevor's family all wanted pictures with him as well. He moved off to find another of his friends. He quickly ran into Janet, Mary, Kelly, and Jen who all wanted pictures with him as a group and individually. After tearing himself away from them, he ran into Matt and Jared who wanted the same thing.

"Prince!" a high-pitched voice called. Vald turned to face his second best friend Oliver, being so smart and young that he was only thirteen but still in their class. He was going through puberty and his voice was cracking so others made fun of him often, but Vald never had. As a result Oliver had attached to him like glue.

"Don't call me that," Vald said, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Oliver grinned and handed him a crown. It was a prop from their drama club, and Oliver's prize from entering a play he wrote for a contest. He had insisted that Vald have it, saying that he was the muse that led to the play's genius, but Vald had refused.

"No," Vald said, blushing a little. "It's weird that you guys always call me a prince."

Oliver beamed and opened his mouth, only to be cut off as two big jocks pushed him aside to claim Vald's attention. The small boy tripped and almost fell over, except Vald caught him with an arm, pulling him out of the jocks' way.

"Hey Vald!" one of the guys cheered, sounding too loud for how close he was standing. "Have you decided which college to go to yet?"

Vald shook his head. "Nope. I'm going to look again tomorrow. It's really hard."

"Especially when everyone wants you," the other jock laughed, also being too loud.

"Who offered the best scholarships?" Oliver asked, sounding surprisingly quiet after the two loud-mouths.

"Who cares when you're rich!" the first jock laughed, slamming his hand down on Vald's shoulder a little too hard.

"Are you two drunk?" Vald asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling slightly. They looked at each other and then beamed back, nodding. "Just don't get caught," Vald continued, looking around for any teachers.

The two jocks laughed and walked away, calling after one of their cheer friends. Oliver watched them go, glancing at Vald in a baffled way.

Vald laughed and said, "Come on, let's go find one of the others."


	3. Chapter 3

Havi glanced around his apartment. Seeing the stack of books he was looking for, he moved over and grabbed a book in the middle, making sure the stack didn't topple over. The book was about four inches thick, and was one of his favorite research books. He opened it as he went into the kitchen, cooking himself something small to eat.

A few hours passed that way, his head buried in a few books. It was always easiest to pass the time reading. He wrote notes down as he read something useful, but wrote down very little compared to what he read. When he finished a book he threw it to the floor, not caring how or where it landed.

During that time Clarissa called him twice, leaving messages to call her back as soon as he could. Someone also came to his door, but they left after ten minutes of him not replying. Havi didn't care if he irritated people, only cared that his research was not disturbed. He was close to a breakthrough, and was not about to let idiots disturb him.

He went to bed sometime late into the night, stacking the books he had just read in a new pile on the opposite side of the room. Once he fell asleep, he slipped into his usual dream.

Havi was standing outside of a tiny cottage. He walked around but no one was there as usual. Deciding to look for someone inside, he entered and felt at home with all of the books, chests, and weapons either scattered around the room or sitting as decorations. He felt like looking into the other rooms, only finding a plain sleeping room with only a few more books. He heard rustling somewhere, and decided to investigate who it was.

Leaving, he spotted a man standing in the room. The man was obviously younger than himself, but held himself confidently. He was observing a wine bottle, but then seemed to almost throw it into the air as if it had scared him.

"Don't touch anything here," Havi scolded the visitor. "They are all priceless items."

The man caught the bottle just in time. Just as he was about to show his whole face to Havi, the professor woke up.

Havi growled as his alarm blared at him to wake up. He had placed it far away, finding himself breaking alarms if they were within arm's reach of him upon waking. The irritable professor got up and shut off his alarm. As he got ready for another day of lecturing, he thought back to the dream.

He had been having the dream for as long as he could remember, but it was always different lengths. Sometimes he just observed the man, and other times he was just wandering around the cottage. Occasionally he was going through some of the things in the building: flipping through books with illegible words, digging through one of the huge chests, or just brushing a horse's mane. The horse was always the weirdest, seeming to possess fangs and oddly shaped feet. He had made a sculpture of it, painting the sculpture to look like a miniature of the dream horse.

Occasionally he would stare at the horse, trying to piece together what it all meant. All of the dreams were obviously connected, and he knew that the strange man. He was determined to find out who the man was, but he had never seen the man's face, or if he did he never remembered the image. He longed to see it, as if the man were precious to him.

Getting irritated with himself, Havi sped up his preparations and left the house.


	4. Chapter 4

"So decided yet?" Trevor asked, sipping the remains of his drink from his Starbucks cup.

Vald sighed. "No. I don't really have anything I want to do. Everyone is always asking me, but I never have an answer."

Oliver fiddled with a straw wrapper and looked at his fingers as he said, "I said you should just go to where they're offering the best scholarships."

Vald shrugged. "You guys know money isn't an issue for me."

Trevor snorted and said, "Yes, but more scholarship offers means they want you. At least I think it means that."

Oliver shrugged. "It's the best way to decide I think," he muttered.

"You can always go to Ultimate like us," Trevor said beaming at his best friend.

"You're going too Oliver?" Vald asked. He figured with the boy's insane intelligence his parents would be sending him to Harvard or Cambridge or some high-end university like that.

Oliver shrugged and glanced away.

"His parents only agreed if he promised to take the maximum amount of classes every semester," Trevor answered, "including the upcoming summer semester."

Vald laughed. "Well they just want the best for you."

Oliver brightened and looked the older boy in the eyes. "You definitely should come too! Community colleges are best to take a slow start into college life, and this way you can take a bunch of different classes to find your interest! You could even start over the summer with me!"

Trevor's lip curled up in a half-smile, but Vald considered it. It did seem like the best idea. As always, Oliver's arguments seemed the most thought-out and smartest course to take. It did seem easier to just try out a bunch of different classes, and then he could get serious faster.

"Sure," Vald agreed, shocking both of his friends. "But shouldn't I have signed up a long time ago? Most people are probably already assigned to classes and preparing for class."

Trevor sighed as Oliver got excited. "Nope! This college's summer semester is condensed to allow for longer fall and spring semesters. They're still in class for another week and then the summer semester starts a week after that, so you should be able to slip into scheduling without being flat out rejected!"

Vald smiled as he saw his friend get even more excited.

"We should get you signed up as soon as possible!" the short boy said eagerly. "It shouldn't take long to get there, and then we could talk to the administration and show you around and—"

"Slow down Olly," Trevor interrupted, shocking them both with a nickname Oliver loathed. "Your parents were expecting you in an hour, weren't they? You don't have time to have us drive you there and back."

Oliver seemed to deflate and said, "Fine, but you should still sign him up Trevor. We should show him around tomorrow then."

Trevor smiled and agreed.


	5. Chapter 5

Havi walked through the crowd of young adults, loathing how much they reminded him of a herd of sheep. He needed a staff to be a shepherd. Unfortunately he wasn't even allowed to yell at them to move out of the way, and was instead forced to hasten through the crowd to make it to the lecture hall in time for his class.

"Professor Halvir!" a student called, somehow managing to push up to his side as he continued through the crowd. "How are you professor? I was just on my way to your class."

"I can see that," Havi stated, not keeping the irritation he was feeling from his voice.

The student, a female and one of the only ones left attending his class, didn't take the hint and continued, "I was studying last night with Nate and Jackie, and we were discussing the obvious short-comings of the magic fables. We cannot see any proof that such powers could have been actually real."

"That was the assignment," Havi almost sighed in relief as me managed to break free from the crowd.

"Yes," she continued, "but why would people today not have that power? There would have had to been something to stop humans from using such power, or draining it all and also explaining why dragons and the like no longer exist."

Havi stayed silent, letting her talk herself to the realization he knew was coming.

"Ah, but assuming that what we consider magic now is not what magic was back then," she continued, "then they might have considered anything magic. Throwing a ball of sticks that had caught fire could have been seen as throwing fire-balls. If these so-called sorcerers had a working knowledge of basic chemistry, like alchemists, then they could have potentially tricked many uneducated commoners into believing they were performing magical acts!" She gasped and beamed up at him. "Thank you professor!" she cheered, running ahead of him to beat him to the classroom.

Havi sighed as he watched the girl leave. He didn't care what they wrote personally, as long as it made sense and answered his question. He didn't really care about specifics, as long as his students walked away from his class learning to look at every side of a problem and find the answer.

Caught up in his thoughts, Havi didn't see the two young men walk into him. The collision caused him to drop his papers, scattering them all over the ground. Havi glared down at the offender, only to be taken aback at the head that was bending down to pick up the papers.

It was just an ordinary young man. He had short brown hair and earrings, and Havi couldn't recall ever having seen this man before. This man was both a stranger and so familiar it was troubling. Something in Havi's mind was setting off alarm bells, and they distracted him when the man moved to hand him his papers back.

"I am very sorry for my clumsiness," the man said, him and his friend looking honestly sorry but also amused at the situation.

Breaking himself away from his thoughts, Havi took his papers and said briskly, "Yes. Make sure it doesn't happen again."

He zipped his way to his class, determined to wipe the event from his mind until he had time to think again.

* * *

_Just some warning from the the author: not all chapters will be long, but not all will be short either. I tried to keep them all around a page long but didn't always succeed. Just a warning that many chapters will be quick and short._


	6. Chapter 6

Vald and Trevor laughed loudly as they left the administration office. The administration had accepted Vald's admission, though not promising him a spot in the next semester. They had mostly accepted when Vald had said that he just wanted to take at least one course in the semester and didn't care which class he had to attend.

"You're going to end up with a demon professor!" Trevor boomed, laughing loud enough to scare nearby birds away.

Vald shrugged. "No teacher has been too bad so far."

"Because of your good looks, pleasant manners, and innocent aura," Trevor laughed. "Face it. The only teacher who disliked you, and eventually failed you, was the chemistry teacher who suspected you were seducing teachers."

"Hey!" Vald protested, pointing accusingly at his friend. "The teachers like me, but don't go that far! Mr. Akiyama didn't hate me, I just suck at chemistry! You know that!"

Trevor's laughed boomed out again, causing several people to glance their way. "Sure."

Vald let it go. Fighting with his friend, even in a joking way, was always hard for him. Something in him felt that the fight might lead to something worse, and he didn't want that. "Let's just go back," Vald suggested, turning in that direction.

* * *

Vald and Trevor were lazing around Trevor's house, too bored to do anything. They were staring at the TV, barely paying attention to the show that was on. Vald fell asleep, not even noticing his eyelids slid shut.

A humanoid monster was holding a guard's head, and behind him Henri was talking about monsters killing the royal guard. Vald attacked the monster, but his sword snapped in two. He glared at the monster as it picked him up by his throat, threatening to squeeze the life out of him. A guard leapt in to save him, saying something about him needing a magical weapon as he took on the monster. Another guard joined in the fight, yelling at Vald and Henri to run found himself in a huge castle. There were guards everywhere, mostly protecting either him or his brother Henri. A flying beast lunged for his brother, but Vald cut it down with a sword in his hands. He told the guards and his brother to run, but a crash from behind him made him grab his little brother and turn to face the new enemy.

Vald ran, closely followed by his brother, but not towards the exit. He ran to where he knew he could find a weapon to save the men sacrificing themselves for him. He opened the doors to a giant room, only pausing to make sure there were no demons inside before rushing forward to a chest.

"Va…Val tha…that is…" Henri stuttered.

Vald opened the chest to find an evil looking sword. "This is the only way to save the people," he said calmly, picking up the sword. He felt a rush of energy enter him, making him feel more powerful than ever before.

Vald gasped, jumping up and falling from the couch he had been sleeping on. His head whipped around, not quiet believing that this was reality and the dream was fake. Trevor was sound asleep, and it was already two in the morning. Vald sighed and laid back down, closing his eyes as he tried to remember his dream.


	7. Chapter 7

"Here is next semester's class schedule," Clarissa said with a grin, handing Havi one of the lists in her hand. Their classes were taking their finals right now, but had other professors watching them, leaving the two free for two hours. "Another light load for you, I see."

Havi glanced at the paper. He was never emailed his schedule, everyone knowing that he never checked his email as often as he should. The schedule showed that his classes were all in the afternoon, and his office hours were scheduled immediately before each class. He was teaching Mythology, Fables vs. Reality, and Ancient Religion, all classes that sounded easy to get students to sign up before they realized how hard Havi's classes were.

"I think they give you those to trick students," Clarissa continued, used to her friend not replying. "It's really mean if you ask me. Well maybe students will be smart enough to actually check out their professors this time."

Havi smirked. On the website where students could post reviews of their professors, Havi had almost the worst grade. Very few students liked him, and mostly because they liked studying independently and didn't mind a professor who was fast paced and unforgiving. The majority dropped his classed within a week, giving him the worst rating and calling him evil and all sorts of bad names. "Only half full," he commented, noticing that his mythology class only had about twenty students signed up.

Clarissa giggled. "Maybe they're smarter than you give them credit for."

Havi added the paper to the stack that was building on his desk. He then looked back at Clarissa, giving her the obvious signal to leave. She stuck her tongue out at him, leaving without a word.

Havi got onto his computer, deciding to blow off steam. He wasn't a big fan of online games, but one in particular always grabbed his attention and before he knew it he had a subscription and played it whenever he was frustrated.

"Back again selfish wizard?" a message read as soon as his character had generated.

Havi sighed and ignored it. He knew the man would find him soon, and he wanted to go and buy a few artifacts before his day being ruined. Sure enough, the wizard who had sent the message approached Havi after the professor had bought a new staff.

"You owe me for those spell books!" the wizard growled.

Havi snarled and typed, "Well it's not my fault those books were burnt up. I was going to pay that thief a visit right now."

The wizard, whose real name was Rein but went by Hallyne in the game, crossed his arms and pouted, "You wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for me." He worked with Havi at work and they were in the same department, but despite having similar interests they never got along.

Havi rolled his eyes and typed back "I had it planned from the beginning." The game had a special system when it came to character deaths. Each time a character died, they would respawn within a short time. However, if a character died repeatedly within a short time, their character would be deleted. The game allowed players to keep multiple characters, but Havi only possessed one, meaning that if Hallyne hadn't saved him he would have been deleted.

"I'm going," Havi said, moving away and leaving the other man to pout.

* * *

_Another note from me! If there are random interruptions with numbers, please tell me. They're notes I made on my master copy and forgot to remove. Thanks!_


	8. Chapter 8

"Why did you decide to be a half-demon?" Trevor asked, his character running ahead of his friend to clear out the remaining enemies.

Vald shrugged and said, "Just thought it would be cool."

"Still…" Trevor said hesitantly, glancing sideways at his friend. "That form is a little weird."

Vald glanced at him and chuckled. They had woken up early in the morning and decided to create new characters on their favorite online game. Trevor had chosen to be an elven archer that looked very similar to himself, saying that he could pick up the girls in the game that way. Vald had chosen to be a half-demon, but had made his skin tan and made his hair longer. The demon appearance came with tattoos all over his body, fangs and pointed ears. Despite that, his slim form made him less than intimidating.

Trevor laughed as well, his character killing off the last of their attackers. They were in one of the beginner areas, but were grinding* enough to level up fast enough to make these characters equal to their other characters. There were already both level 15 and had decided that after they healed in a nearby village they would move on to do more leveling.

"Let's head in," Vald suggested, using his last medkit to give his character enough strength to stand.

Trevor agreed. On their way they had to defeat more monsters, but never strong enough to weaken them significantly. Stepping inside the town, Vald felt himself start to heal. The game had the wonderful design of having each town heal any character inside it. This helped beginners who were too poor to afford medkits.

"Anything interesting happen?" Trevor asked a character who was lounging around outside the blacksmith's.

"Hroptr is on a rampage," the man replied.

Vald went inside and got his weapons fixed by an NPC*. There weren't any new upgrades, and neither of them could afford the next level of weapons, so he left and went to the next shop to buy medkits and powerups.

"Who's he again?" Trevor typed.

The character laughed. "Stay away from the Northern Mountains. He's a wizard who rarely leaves them except to get rare items for the day's special. Today he's running around the east looking for an idiot who stole and fried his stuff."

Trevor laughed out loud. Turning to Vald he said, "Isn't that the guy we ran into a few days ago?"

Vald turned to him, his character talking with an NPC to get a quest. "I don't think we've ever met Hroptr. I've heard about him though. He's super high level but hangs out in the north because of the rare item output."

Trevor laughed, turned back to his screen and said, "Oh right, I met him on a day you weren't with me. He's an asshole, and won't help others out unless they promise him an insane reward. He's also ridiculously rich so the only rewards he accepts are rare items."

Vald laughed. "A little selfish much?"

* * *

_NPC = Non-Player Character_

_grinding = (my definition) killing a massive amount of relatively weak enemies to gain levels quickly and easily_

_If there are other gaming terms that aren't easy to understand ask and I'll define it here at the bottom. Thanks!_


	9. Chapter 9

Havi sighed, logging off. He had looked for two hours for the annoying thief, but the most he had heard of him was his character's name, Bolman. It was a dumb name, most likely being some altered version of his own name, and spoke to the man's intelligence.

He glanced around his office, irritated with how he had to clean it for the next semester. He decided to go and ask the head of his department if his office was going to be reassigned. He would prefer not to meet with the annoying man, but if it meant him not having to pack away all his stuff he would accept the annoyance.

As Havi opened his door, he came face to face with the man he was looking for. Professor Haleceles was standing there, ready to knock on the door that had just swung open. Haleceles smiled and handed Havi a slip of paper.

Taking the paper but not look at it, Havi said, "I was wondering if my office was going to be moved during the week before the summer semester."

Haleceles shook his head. "No. I don't think anyone wants to have your office once you're done with it."

"Do you still have that sword in your office?" Havi asked as Haleceles was about to leave.

The man paused and smiled politely at the other man. "Yes, but as I said before, you cannot have it."

"What are you doing with it?" Havi asked, stepping out of the room to follow him.

Haleceles shot him another smile. "That is not your concern."

"You should not bother him," Rein commented. He had seen them walking and thought it best to join them for fear that he would have to stop Havi from insulting Haleceles.

"You should not bother _me_," Havi responded. "Professor, I have read about a sword that is said to look exactly like the one you have. Just please allow me to look at it."

Haleceles grew serious and said, "None of us should touch that sword."

Rein looked surprised and asked, "What? Is the sword that fragile?"

"Is it cursed?" Havi asked in all seriousness.

Haleceles laughed and answered, "Do not worry about it. I will keep it safe, and no you may not look at it Halvir."

* * *

_If you couldn't tell yet, I love putting in allusions to the manga. Oh they're pretty obvious if you've read it and paid attention, or even if you haven't, so it's just fun for me. Anyone remember something special about Haleceles? *giggle*_


	10. Chapter 10

Vald and Trevor laughed, not caring that Oliver was pouting. "It's not funny," the small boy mumbled.

"Oh yes it is," Trevor replied. "You looked hilarious."

"Well it's his sister's fault," Vald added, stopping himself from laughing.

"And you're sure you can't undo it?" Trevor chuckled.

"I can't," Oliver sulked. "It costs 500 gold to re-dye the hair, and another 500 to get it restyled."

"What did she spend all your money on?" Vald asked.

"Cross-class skills," Oliver complained. "I'm a white-mage! I don't need to know how to fire a bow and arrow!"

"But skills cost so much you should have been left with at least a thousand," Vald pointed out.

"She also bought a familiar," Oliver sulked. "I was saving up for an awesome one, but she went and bought a rabbit instead! Argh!"

Trevor chuckled again. "So you're broke, low-powered, and girly?" Oliver grumbled a confirmation and Trevor laughed louder.

"I can help pay for you to have your hair something else," Vald suggested. "Maybe to cut it too."

Trevor shook his head. "No you can't. We spent the rest of our money on medkits, remember?"

"I'll get used to it," Oliver grumbled. "I don't care about the braids so much, it's just the pink that annoys me."

Vald nodded. They were walking around the college's campus, Oliver having insisted on showing Vald around despite the campus being small. It was getting dark and they were heading back to Trevor's car. Something flickered in Vald's vision and he turned his head, trying to see what it was.

"Is something wrong?" Oliver asked, noticing that Vald had stopped walking.

"I don't know," he answered. He saw a motion again and started walking towards it, telling the others to go on ahead.

Vald followed the dark figure, not sure why he felt the man was suspicious. It was probably just a student who was there for a late study session. Despite this, Vald still felt that the man looked suspicious and followed him. The man suddenly disappeared and Vald was left standing in the middle of a hallway, completely confused as to where the man went.

The man appeared again, running desperately at Vald. Vald jumped out of the way, but then began chasing the man. There was no reason to run, so something must have definitely been up. He only knew for certain when he saw that the man was carrying something that he didn't have before.

"Stop!" Vald called.

The man whirled around and shook the object at him. They were now under a light, the sun having gone down and them being outside, so Vald could see that the man held a red sword with a black hilt. It was huge, and for some reason it looked familiar to him.

The man laughed. "Isn't this cool?" he asked himself. "Looks just like in a movie."

"This isn't a game," Vald warned, taking a few steps toward the man. "I know you stole that, so just return it and I'll forget what you did."

"Not likely!" the man laughed. "Do you know how much this must be worth? The professor treats it so delicately. I know since I've had my eye on it for a while. No way. This is going to pay for my new car!"

Vald took another step and the man swung the sword at him. Ready to fight back, Vald was shocked to see that the man's arm seemed to bubble and boil. His arm swung wildly, not seeming to be aimed at anything in particular. Vald dodged every swing that came close to him, too confused to run.

The man gasped, and fell to the ground. He dropped the sword and screamed in pain. By now half of his body looked like it was boiling, and his good arm grabbed at the mutilated flesh in agony. He grabbed for the sword, but Vald beat him to it.

He grabbed the hilt, holding it instinctively in an attack position. A surge of energy flowed into him, making him remember his dream from a few nights ago. Glancing down at the crippled man who was trying to bring himself up, the world disappeared from view.


	11. Chapter 11

Havi, Haleceles and Rein rushed to the scene when they heard a man's scream. What they found was horrifying. Rein almost puked, but refused to allow himself to show weakness around Halvir. As it was, the other two men were not paying attention to him but were too busy analyzing the scene in front of him.

"Call 911," Haleceles told Rein calmly. "They wouldn't like it if we delayed."

Rein ran off and Havi said, "Somehow I feel that you are not surprised."

Haleceles gave him a masked look. "Of course I was not expecting such a horrible thing to happen."

"But you seemed to almost suspect it," Havi argued, glaring at the older man.

Haleceles didn't reply as Rein came running back with his cellphone in hand. "They're on their way," he said. "Also there was broken glass by your office, professor Haleceles. I think someone broke in."

Haleceles nodded and said, "Yes. The sword you were talking about earlier Halvir? This man took it."

"What?!" Rein gasped. "Then what happened? How did he get like this? How do you know it was him?"

"Where's the sword?" Havi asked calmly.

Haleceles sighed a little. "Someone most likely killed him for it. That sword seems to bring out the worst in people, and I fear that someone is loose with it."

"Is it cursed?" Havi asked again.

Haleceles gave him a look but did not answer.

* * *

_Super short chapter, sorry but I need time to write more. But yay for vacation and time to write! Now all I need is inspiration... If anyone has any ideas I'm open to hearing them!_


	12. Chapter 12

Vald woke slowly, feeling absolutely drained. He was at his house, not surprised to find that no one was home. Henri and his parents were somewhere overseas. Henri was homeschooled and their parent's business often took them far away for long periods of time.

He groaned, sitting up. Looking around, he saw that he was in the living room. He couldn't remember getting home, though Trevor probably dragged him home and inside. It was odd that he hadn't woken up, though, if that was it. He was still dressed, and the sword he had taken from the man was on the floor by his side, glinting in the morning sun.

"I guess I need to return you to your owner," Vald said. He recalled the sword having a sheath, though not knowing what happened to it. He remembered the man having it, but couldn't recall ever taking it with him. Oddly enough, the sheath was a few feet away. He picked the two items up and sheathed the sword.

The phone rang, the noise sounding unusually loud compared to the silence. Vald got up and answered it, expecting his parents to check up on him like they did occasionally. The person on the other end paused before replying, as if not expecting anyone to answer the phone. "Vald?"

"Yeah Oliver, who else?" Vald replied tiredly.

"Oh my gosh! Are you alright?! I should come over. I would be already, but my mom said you'd be fine with some rest. Are you fine? Damn it I should go over there." He paused, allowing his mother to yell at him for his language. "Anyway, what happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" Vald asked, running a hand through his bedhead.

"You passed out! You disappeared for an hour, and we decided to find you in case you were lost. We found you only like a few yards away, totally out cold. Trevor carried you back to the car and he dropped me off before taking you home. Did he stay with you to make sure you're alright?"

Vald glanced around. There was no evidence of anyone else around. "I don't think so, but maybe he just went home to get some stuff. It _is_ Wednesday."

"Oh right, church. Well I'll get my mom to drive me over to your house. You shouldn't be alone. I _told_ Trevor something was up!"

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you seen the news?"

"No, why?"

"Turn it on. I'll be over in a second." He hung up as he was calling to his mom.

Vald turned on the TV and changed it to a news station. They were just finishing up a story that had to do with a recent murder. Vald gasped when the reporter said that the person was found on Ultimate's campus. There was a warning about gruesome material before they showed the victims' face. Vald gasped again as he recognized the man as the thief he had chased the day before.

"His identification was destroyed, so if anyone can identify this man then please report it to the police," the reporter finished.

Vald took deep breaths. He felt something run against his cheek, and he put a hand up to knock it away, only to find that they were tears. Vald was crying, but had no idea why.


	13. Chapter 13

Havi glared at the ceiling, waiting impatiently for the auction to continue. He had been interviewed by the police all night, and had to finish up some last minute grading before he could go to bed. He passed back the assignments and said farewell to his classes, not regretting that he probably wouldn't see many of them much more. Immediately after his last class he left campus and came to the auction house, having been let in despite his tardiness due to being a regular participant.

"And number 98 is a beautifully carved staff that was discovered among the ruins of an ancient castle," the auctioneer called loudly. "It was so well preserved that archeologists are astounded as to why. The beginning price will be two hundred." Havi and a few others raised their hands, rapidly increasing the sale price.

"Why would someone want a stupid stick?" someone near Havi whispered.

Havi ignored them, repeatedly claiming the staff until it was him and another man who were fighting. They were up to four thousand dollars, but Havi saw the man hesitate to raise the bid up to that much. Havi smirked and raised it up five thousand. The man hesitated and glanced at his opponent. Havi fixed him with a determined stare, and the man stopped, allowing Havi to claim the staff.

After the auction, Havi went straight home to look at the staff and all of the details on it. It was a finely carved staff, clearly meant for more than hiking. The length of it was perfectly smooth and had been treated in a way for it to not decay after a long time, though Havi could not tell what it was treated with. At the top it had a few root-like appendages that were obviously meant for something instead of absorbing water. The way they were arranged made a perfectly round gap that looked like it once held something important.

He wrote down all of its measurements and felt it in his hands. It even felt like it was made for more than ordinary uses, or even just for display. It felt hard and strong, and so natural in his hands. Havi swung it around a few times, noticing that even though it was smooth it never slipped from his grip at all.

Setting it down on his chair, Havi moved to examine a few books he had on quarterstaffs and other weapons. It would make sense if this was a weapon, but it didn't look useful for bashing, and instead looked more ceremonial. Grabbing another book on religious ceremonies, Havi flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

Neither book, nor the other ones he grabbed for insurance, had anything like this staff listed for use. It was too delicate and smooth for war, but too bland and undecorated for religious ceremonies. Havi's curiosity was peaked and he began examining the staff more closely.

The phone rang loudly, but Havi ignored it until the answering machine picked it up. "Halvir!" Clarissa's clear but annoying voice called out of the machine. "I know you're there! …Fine! Don't pick up. I just wanted to tell you about classes ending early because of the murder on campus. Summer classes still are going to start on schedule, but we've been told to be ready for any sudden changes. There was another murder today, but off campus thank God. … Well I'll talk to you first day of summer classes then… Bye."

Havi sighed as he glanced at the recording machine. Deciding to ignore the message like usual, he decided to take a break from the staff and find that annoying thief on the online game. The game, _Crimson Spell_, started up as Havi glanced at the mysterious staff. He couldn't shake the feeling that he knew it from somewhere, and that it belonged to him even before he bought it earlier.

* * *

_Sorry for the dumb obvious references to the actual story, but I promise they're for a reason. :)_


	14. Chapter 14

Vald moaned as he woke up to soreness that had covered his entire body. He had been sore for over a week now, and nothing he did could help. He didn't even complain to his friends like he normally would, because something about this felt achingly familiar as if it was caused by something a long time ago. It wasn't even necessarily his muscles that were sore, but rather something that never worsened or lessened.

Throwing clothes on and devouring a piece of toast for breakfast, Vald was ready rather quickly to meet Oliver for a ride. Oliver's mom's car was parked outside his house as Vald left, Oliver half-way out to come and get him. Vald thanked his mom for giving him a ride, but she brushed it off.

"You're so nice to Oliver," she answered, "it's the least I can do."

"So what classes are you in?" Oliver asked eagerly

Vald pulled out the sheet that told him all of the information on his classes. "Fables vs. Mythology with Professor Halvir, and Chivalry: A Lost Art with Professor Marse. What about you?"

Oliver pouted as he said, "Calculus 2, Physics 10, and Law 5."

Vald nodded sympathetically. He couldn't say anything because Oliver's mom was nearby and would not like Vald encouraging Oliver to complain about his work load. Instead he laughed, "Well if you're ever bored you can probably sit in on one of my classes. They seem really easy."

Oliver nodded. His mother pulled up to the curb and let them out. After saying her farewells and leaving, Oliver said, "Well my class starts in a few minutes. Make sure you find your class alright!"

He ran off and Vald set off in the opposite direction to where his class was supposed to be. He found it without a problem, and the huge group of students standing in front of the room helped him be sure.

"Do you know if Professor Halvir is nice?" a girl turned and asked Vald suddenly.

"Um, I don't really know," he answered with a smile. "This is kind of my first semester."

She looked disappointed, but upon seeing her talking with him a couple other girls came over excitedly. One looked at the first girl and said, "I heard he's really hard. The online rating for him was insanely low!"

"But some of the reviews were really positive," the third girl added. "It's almost like you either love him or hate him."

"At least he's supposed to be hot," the second girl acknowledged.

Vald laughed. "So it'll be okay as long as he's attractive?"

"Of course," she asserted. "I'm more likely to try if he's hot."

The first girl looked disheartened. "My friend said he doesn't help you, and that he's unforgiving if you don't get something."

"I'm sure that's not true," Vald assured her. "He's probably someone you just have to get used to."

The crowd went silent as a figure stomped towards them. He had long white hair, and looked hardly older than them. Vald expected him to join their crowd before he shoved his way between them and unlocked the door to let them in. He stomped into the room, ignoring the hushed murmuring of the class behind him.

"What's on his head?" the second girl giggled to her friend.

"It looks like a kid's toy," her friend answered.

Professor Halvir looked engulfed in his computer as the class took their seats, almost all of them asking the same questions the girl had. None of them were brave enough to ask the man directly, but it was too weird to ignore. Vald was focused on how young the professor was, and asked his neighbor if that really was the professor.

The man nodded. "Professor Halvir is supposed to be a genius," he answered.

"Supposed to be?" Vald asked for clarification.

Again the man nodded. "I think he's crazy, personally. I haven't ever seen examples of his so-called genius and I just think he looks younger than he really is. Besides, I'm just in this class for the credits."

The professor silenced the class by looking up. Most of the students looked scared or eager, but a few simply looked bored and tired. "I advise anyone who took this class for the GE* requirements to leave now and drop this class," the professor said loudly and clearly. His voice carried a tone of authority and made quite a few students look at each other nervously. "You'll be doing all of us a favor," he continued, "because you won't have a failing grade on your GPA and I won't have to grade dumb assignments."

No one got up to leave. "Have it your way," he replied. "Your first assignment is to find one mythical creature and write a two-page paper about how it could possibly have existed in the past. It's due at the end of the week. You can leave now, as I have business elsewhere."

He grabbed his bag and left the room as the class broke out into loud discussion about what just happened. A few of the lazier people thought this was perfect, while a few of the harder-working students complained about the assignment being too vague or open. Vald was more confused than anything, and he thought this would be an interesting summer.

* * *

_*GE=General Education, as in requirements such as math, english, etc._

_Personally I think Havi as a professor is like Hiroki from Junjou Romantica. I'd hate to have him as a prof but love to look at him walking around campus._


	15. Chapter 15

Havi stomped out of his classroom angrily. The previous night he had gotten the _bright_ idea to mess around with some dumb spells he had memorized as a child. As a child he had grown up dreaming about being a magician, but his parents had forced him to be more serious and it resulted in how he was now. Feeling nostalgic because of the strange staff, he had gone through his old magic stuff and read the spells to himself aloud.

A weird symbol had appeared in the air and then vanished suddenly. Havi had been speechless but only when he had noticed the result of his spell was he trying astounded. A small googily-eyed creature had appeared on his head and refused to come off no matter what he tried.

After failing in every attempt to dislodge the weird creature, he had been forced to go to the college with the abomination stuck in its place. Clarissa had seen him and insisted that the creature was adorable but he rushed past her in favor of getting his class over with as soon as he could.

Now, after he had zoomed out of the class as quickly as he could, he went straight back to his office and tried looking up ways to get rid of the foul creature. Speed walking across campus, he passed Rein who began following him once he caught a glimpse of the thing.

Rein chuckled and Havi shot him a look. Shrugging, he said, "Having too much power is also kind of sad, eh Halvir?"

Havi stopped short and as Rein stopped, asked, "What did you say?"

Rein raised an eyebrow at him. "That you look kind of pathetic right now, Halvir."

Havi glared at him. Déjà vu was playing games on him more and more often lately, and he had a sudden wave of feeling that he had heard that line before. Chalking it down to Rein being repetitive, he stated firmly, "Go away."

Rein smirked. "Have you seen Professor Haleceles? I can't find him anywhere."

"Maybe you should open your eyes," Havi advised, pointing sideways at where Haleceles was talking to Clarissa.

The pairs noticed each other, and Clarissa hurried over to them as Haleceles followed at a slower pace. Havi stopped walking with a sigh, but Rein looked content to have found the professor. Clarissa immediately began babbling about the thing on Havi's head being adorable but weird, and Havi noticed the older professor eyeing the beast with marked curiosity.

When he noticed Havi watching him, Haleceles smiled and said, "That is quite the odd choice of accessory, Halvir."

Havi's eyes narrowed slightly and he replied, "It appears that one of my former students enjoys playing pranks. I woke up this morning in my office with it attached to my head. I'm going to remove it as soon as I can."

"Don't you have a class right now?" Clarissa gasped as she remembered her friend's schedule.

"I let them out after assigning a short paper," he replied, crossing his arms in a show of boredom.

"You shouldn't do that!" she asserted. "Do I have to go to your next class and make sure you don't skip?"

Haleceles smiled kindly and replied, "Allow him one day, and he will do better in the future. Let him remedy this oddity and then he will continue his job tomorrow."

Clarissa nodded but Havi was already speed walking back to his office, hoping to find something that would work against his unwanted guest.

* * *

_I forgot to mention this earlier but most every character is some reincarnation of characters from the story except Trevor and Clarissa that I can remember. I felt _Crimson Spell_ really needed a woman so think of her as my OC, but Trevor is just a character that I included to be the normal person compared to the main characters. Also I know I'm not subtle on names, but I DID rename Ruruka's character...kinda. lol._

_Also I quote the manga a lot, clearly, but if you would like me to cite which chapters I get the quotes from I will._


	16. Chapter 16

Vald sighed as he plopped down onto his desk chair. The school day hadn't included anything exhausting, but Vald felt as if he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep for a week. His soreness always worsened later in the day as well, so he just wanted to fall into his bed and sleep.

Instead of allowing himself that basic pleasure, he forced himself to his computer and to log onto his favorite game. While the online game loaded, he grabbed himself a soda to keep himself awake until he passed out later.

On his way back, Vald noticed the strange sword leaning against his bed as if it belonged there. Even though Vald knew he had to find out who it belonged to and return it, something about the sword felt like it belonged to him and when he had taken from the thief it had returned to its rightful owner.

Shaking his head to rid it of such weird thoughts, Vald sat down and logged on. Trevor was already on and as soon as Vald's character spawned he messaged asking, "School out already?"

Vald chuckled and replied, "Professor didn't want anything really. Have a paper for the class though. My other class is tomorrow."

"Well want to meet up then?" Trevor replied. "I got a mission and need all the help I can get."

Vald agreed and set off for their agreed destination. Getting there first, Vald noticed that Oliver was online and asked him to join them. Within a few minutes the three of them were gathered near a ruined castle, the mission being to "rescue" an NPC from a dragon inside.

They charged and the three of them slaughtered all sorts of goblins and orcs inside the castle, but they needed to take a break to heal just before the main room with the dragon. Vald was breathing heavily in the real world. He clutched his chest as he breathed, and pain flashed around his body as he tried to focus on something else to ignore the pain.

"Are you alright?" Oliver asked in game.

His character, named Lizregbel for some odd reason, looked much stupider than he had implied when telling them about the changes earlier. Clothed in all white, flowing robes, the pink double braids only added to the overall impression of frilly and girly. Vald couldn't stop himself from laughing as he related that character to his young and inexperienced friend.

"Yeah," he replied simply.

The three of them turned back to the door and prepared for a hard fight. The bunny floating behind Oliver's character's shoulders darted into the room before them, being undetectable to NPCs. Once confident they were ready, the three friends charged the giant beast.

They were slaughtered. Vald respawned not a minute later in the nearby town, swiftly heading to the blacksmith to repair his broken sword. The other two joined him after likewise repairing their damaged equipment and were sulking.

"We need help," Vald stated tonelessly.

Trevor sighed. "Dumb mission, but now I want to do it more than ever."

"So let's just ask around," Oliver suggested cheerily. "There's bound to be at least one person willing to help us."

* * *

_I promise to try and stop making obvious references to the manga...it's really hard though and I don't want to change what I've already written. For real though, gaming with a player who looks like Ruruka would be SO COOL!_


	17. Chapter 17

Havi was running around as his character on _Crimson Spell_ to get out the anger of being unable to remove the damn creature from his head. Instead of ripping his hair out, he focused his rage into finding the thief who had stolen his stuff and was cornering the idiot just as he ran into a village where PvP* was not allowed.

"Stop running and fight like a man!" Havi yelled after the retreating figure.

"That wouldn't be very smart," he replied, slowing down as he realized that there was nothing the wizard could do to him.

"I wonder how you will pay for the debt…" Havi trailed off, lighting a ball of fire in his character's hand as a threat. It didn't mean anything that moment, but they both knew the thief couldn't stay inside the town forever.

"Brutal wizard," the thief, Bolman, huffed.

"Can you help us?" a player asked, hurrying up to Bolman suddenly. He glanced at Havi and repeated his question.

"Even if it's a little, I'll definitely be of use," Bolman replied seriously.

"My policy is to charge a gift equal to the level of the request," Havi answered honestly.

"Oh…" the person responded, allowing his two friends to join them. "Oh you're Hroptr! That unsociable wizard!"

Havi rolled his eyes in real life but stepped out of the way for the players to talk more directly to Bolman. While following their conversation he took notes of their character information. The one who had spoken was a white mage, and was probably either a girl in real life or had been hacked by a girl judging by his appearance, and his level was rather low compared to the level of the mission he was asking about.

His companions were a normal run-of-the-mill elven archer and a half-demon. Havi was struck dumb by the appearance of the latter. He looked _so_ familiar, but Havi had never seen the character before. Havi's head hurt thinking about it and he refocused on the conversation, filing away the thought for later.

The three players were attempting a mission far above their levels and needed help taking down the final enemy. Bolman, who was equal to their level, stupidly agreed to help them. However, he proved himself not a total idiot when he glanced at Havi nervously.

"Feel like giving me the books back?" Havi asked.

"Selfish wizard," another player added, walking up to join their conversation.

"He's the one who stole your books," Havi informed him.

Hallyne looked the others over and replied, "But if you hadn't stolen them in the first place then he couldn't have stolen them from you."

Havi summoned a ball of flame again, this time directed at Hallyne as well as at Bolman.

"If you want those books back you can help us," the elf suggested. "Bolman, you'd do that right?"

"Um…" he began.

"The books have been destroyed," Havi informed them. "This idiot torched them for their value." The game gave the value of any destroyed items to the possessor, encouraging players to just torch their stuff instead of jamming up the town shops by selling junk.

The others all looked at Bolman blankly who appeared to blush from embarrassment. "It was for food," he told them. "I was hungry!"

"Can't you buy them back?" the white mage asked, clearly irritated and eager to leave.

Havi smirked evilly. "Besides the gigantic cost of even one of those books, I want revenge from the idiot who decided to steal from me."

"Damn it!" the mage growled. "My mom's kicking me off. We'll have to do this tomorrow."

Havi folded his arms over his chest. He didn't like being reminded that playing games like this was something kids did, and this guy was beginning to irritate him.

The kid logged off, quickly followed by the cowardly Bolman. The archer said his farewells and logged off as well. Hallyne disappeared as well, yelling at Havi as he did. Left with the demon, Havi asked, "You won't be able to kill that dragon, you know. It's way too high for you."

He didn't reply and Havi continued, "I could help you guys you know, for a price."

Still no reply. Deciding he must be away from his computer, Havi left and decided to go searching for a rare item that he had heard about.


	18. Chapter 18

Vald woke up in the middle of the street. His body ached all over as if he hadn't just been asleep, but then he noticed where he was. He checked his watch and saw that it was four in the morning. He gasped and sat up, planning to run to the nearest bus stop and getting a ride home. Instead he was shocked by another discovery.

He was covered in blood and less than a foot away were two dead bodies. He was completely confused. How did he get here? Why was he here? What happened? Did _he_ do this?

The last question scared him the most. There had been three murders in the past few days and the police had no clues. But how could it be him? He didn't have any reason to kill people, and had no memories of the events. He shook his head. No there was no way he could be at fault.

He tried to stand up but something clattered to the ground off of his lap. It was the sword that he _still _hadn't returned. It was sheathed but its mere presence was confusing. On top of that he noticed that his clothes were torn and his arms bruised. Could it be that he was attacked with the men but was spared?

Vald groaned. His head hurt and made it hard to try and figure things out. He finally stood up and grabbed the weird sword. He decided to find his way home and sleep on it.

Somehow he found his way home. Where he had woken up wasn't far from his house which was troubling but its closeness was convenient. He hardly wanted to have to get onto a bus or into a cab the way he was. He would most likely be labeled as a murderer without a second thought. Once inside his house he locked the door and collapsed onto his bed. He just wanted to sleep in hope that his head, and everything else, would stop aching.

The next time he opened his eyes he was in a small cabin. He was sitting down with an oddly clothed man with long hair. He seemed familiar to Vald but his head hurt even in his dream and it was hard to remember where he had seen this man before.

"You must be tired from your journey. Why don't you relax?" the man asked politely. He handed Vald a glass of wine but Vald's focus was on the strange bottle it was in.

"Whoa…" Vald gasped. "What is that thing…?"

The man stared at him blankly as he set down the bottle and then asked, "What this? It's just ordinary wine. It's a treat." He murmured the last sentence as if he thought Vald was rude for asking.

"So that's what it is…" Vald said, still confused. He muttered to himself, "The bottle's got a strange face…"

The man replied, "It's a bottle that'll speed up the wine process. I got this from a previous request." With a smirk he said, "My policy is to charge a gift equal to the level of the curse. It'll be difficult to break your curse, so the payment'll be high. I wonder if you can afford it." He laughed evilly at the last sentence.

"What would you like?" Vald asked in a determined tone. "I don't have much money on my but if we go back to my kingdom…"

The man cut him off. "I don't need money. I'm only interested in rare items that are hard to find." Vald gave the strange bottle a weird look as he continued, "For example… that demon sword at your waist. Actually it's emitting an ominous aura."

Vald glanced down at the sword. "This? …I was cursed while using it to cut down monsters. This demon-sword was made by several sorcerers in my kingdom hundreds of years ago. It's been passed down in the royal family, so I cannot give it to you. Although the negative demonic elements enables it to destroy any enemy… In exchange it curses the wielder. I cannot return to my kingdom until the curse is lifted. That sure is…"

The man was staring at a weird animal running around the cottage and did not appear to be paying the slightest interest in what Vald was saying. "…Uh are you listening?" he asked grumpily.

"Are you… strong?" the man asked. Vald gave him a questioning look. "There happens to be a few things I'm interested in, but they're in some dangerous areas. If you accompany my then I might listen to your requests."

Vald stood up eagerly with a smile. "Really? I'm confident in my sword skills!"

"But I'll only break your curse afterwards."

"That's fine. Thanks!"

"Then we'll depart early tomorrow. Gather your energy today. And from now on, I'll call you Vald, and you shall call me Halvir-sama."

"Sure, got it Havi."

The man gave him a look and then pointed at the sword saying, "…If you die then that sword is mine."

Vald didn't say anything but thought, _This guy never changes._


	19. Chapter 19

Havi woke to his alarm, having slept at his computer after logging out of the game. He glared at the offending mechanism and he got up to shut it off and get ready for work. The thing he hated most about his job was the time schedule. He wished he could choose when he had to wake up, if only to ever get to the end of his dreams.

Last night had been a fairly simple dream. He had been riding on a horse, one look at its head told him it was the strange horse he had carved, and speaking about his favorite subject to a companion who rode behind him. He did not see his companion but now the name of the horse came to him, Kiba. He couldn't remember what they talked about, but knew that he enjoyed the subject and that his companion said little about it. Eventually they stopped and separated, Havi having to go get supplies.

After getting fresh supplies Havi started to return only to be stopped in the middle of the forest. He spelled blood and felt something ominous. A sudden fear struck him about his companion and hurried back to their camp.

He slowed his approach. A strange scene had appeared. Two dead bodies and one giant glob of bloody flesh were laying around Havi's companion who had thrown away his sword and was instead focused on his bloody hands and clothes. Above his companion was a slightly transparent scene. Seven robed men were standing in a circle around a sword that was just above Havi's companion. A giant spell circle encompassed the entire scene with the sword being in the center.

Havi just stared. This…

His companion began speaking as he slowly approached. "…It's so… hideous… and repulsive… yet, I… can't recall a thing!"

Havi saw his crying face just as his alarm pulled him from the deep dream. He acknowledged that at least the alarm had allowed him to at least see the other man's face. There was no question in his mind that this was the man who had been plaguing his dreams while never showing his face. He was smug that at least he had achieved something after so many dreams.

Havi was forced to go to work with the strange creature still stuck to his head. After the incident he had thrown his new staff away with disgust, confused and amazed that something had actually happened. After he had tried everything else, he did various things with the staff to dislodge the creature but nothing had happened. He had discarded it yet again with a scowl.

He drove to the college and got there early because there was little traffic. He hurried to Haleceles's office to see if the other professor was there. He was and Havi entered his office.

"There is something I'd like to confirm with your help," Havi said, not beating around the bush in his usual manner.

Haleceles smiled above the book he was reading and asked with a laugh, "You still have not figured out how to make that thing let go?"

Havi gave him a stern look. "That is not what I came to discuss."

Haleceles smiled and said, "Well, I'm sure it will let you go someday. Don't worry." He laughed again and shut his book.

"I told you that I am not here to discuss that!" The other professor motioned for him to continue and he said, "I have come to ask you about a sword named Ygg Velund."

The older professor mirrored his stern look. "Why do you believe I know anything about this sword?"

"Because I believe that until recently it was in your possession."

The black-haired professor's look did not falter. "I wonder how you discovered such a thing. But I will not tell you anything about that sword."

"But master!" Havi stopped himself. What a weird thing to suddenly say. "But professor," he corrected himself, "that sword is cursed, as you very well know! The murders recently could very well be signs of its possessor's violent nature!"

Haleceles gave him a stern look. "This is not your responsibility. When the times comes, I will deal with the problem."

Havi scowled at him but then another knock at Haleceles's door made them both turn and see Clarissa smiling as she came in. "Sorry to disturb you!" she said happily, not sounding sincere in her apology.

"What do you want?" Havi asked angrily.

Clarissa moved and grabbed his arm. "You're not skipping out on class today, and I'm going to be there to make sure! Come on, 'cause you're going to be late."


	20. Chapter 20

Vald reluctantly got up and went with Oliver to class. He felt like he hadn't slept at all. He told Oliver this, trying to use it as an excuse to skip class, but his younger friend was having none of it.

"It always feels like that when someone dreams at night," he told Vald, not sensing the older student's attitude. "Don't worry. You'll wake up soon and then be happy you didn't stay home!"

Vald decided not to complain and instead tried to doze as Oliver's mom drove and her son babbled. If he could sleep now then he was less likely to sleep in his professor's class. He didn't want to face the consequences of that.

Oliver babbled all the way to Havi's classroom, only leaving as soon as he was about to run out of time to run to his class and arrive on time. Vald dragged himself into the classroom and plopped himself directly below the air-vent. The air-conditioner was on high and he hoped the cold air would keep him awake.

"Got the same idea as me, I see," his neighbor commented.

Vald gave the person a lazy look. It was the same man who had sat next to him last time.

"Late night?" he asked.

Vald nodded. It was a better explanation than the reality which was plain confusing.

The man nodded. "Yeah, me too. I was out with friends but they stuck me with being the designated driver so while they got to have fun I was stuck drinking soda all night!" He smirked and continued, "At least I got lucky last night. My friends are now nursing killer hangovers and I can't wait to rub it in their faces!" He laughed.

Vald yawned and tried to stretch his back to help him wake up.

"What about you?"

Vald smiled shyly and answered, "Video games. My friends and I have been addicted to this game lately and are on as often as we can. We were up late trying to finish a mission that was way too tough for us."

The man nodded. "Yeah I get it. If I wasn't out last night I would've—"

"OKAY EVERYONE!" a loud female voice called, "TIME TO SHUT UP!"

All of the students looked to see the professor walk in with a woman. She was as older than their professor but still younger than much of the students taking the class. Vald's partner whistled and Vald had to agree that this woman was hot.

She smiled as a few other students repeated the whistle. "Okay that's enough of that," she said with a giggle. "I'm Professor Galen, but you can all call me Clarissa. I'm just here to assist Professor Halvir if he needs me, so ignore me!" She hurried to take Professor Halvir's desk chair and gave her stone-faced coworker a thumbs-up.

Vald tried to stay awake but as the class progressed he found it harder and harder to listen to the professor's lecture. He couldn't even remember the topic and wasn't surprised at finding himself resting his head on his desk and closing his eyes.

He was incredibly disappointed when he opened his eyes and found himself in a forest. His body felt worse than it did before, and his head as well. He somehow managed to get onto his feet and grabbed the bunny on his lap to find some help. He thought about random things and just hoped to find held. Who was he looking for? The only question that repeated itself was: Where is Havi?

He collapsed and when he opened his eyes again he felt happy. His body felt relaxed and rejuvenated. "Havi… how about a kiss on my hand?" he asked.

* * *

_Finally not a direct quote from the manga! Lol, well not really. Now I've posted all but a little of what I've written so far, but I'm having difficulty writing it because I'm trying really hard not to copy directly from the manga. This story turned out to be longer than I originally planned, but I'm happy even if a few of you enjoy reading this! I'll be sure to write more and update as quickly as I can, though I _did_ put that warning in the description for a reason..._


	21. Chapter 21

Havi stood next to his sleeping student, waiting for him to wake up. He didn't tolerate sleepers and was trying to come up with the best way to wake him. The entire class was silent, waiting anxiously for the boy to wake up. Some glanced nervously at the professor, curious as to how he would wake him.

"Havi…"

Havi started when he heard the student say his name. He smirked and was about to ask if the boy was awake but stupid, before stopping himself from interrupting the student again.

"How about a kiss on my hand?"

Havi had been holding the textbook for the class and now dropped it directly onto the student's desk. The young man jumped up, shocked awake and out of his dream. He stared at Havi in shock and embarrassment, avoiding his eyes after a second.

"Would you like to go back to sleep?" Havi asked coldly.

"Um… no sir," the student replied shyly.

"You certainly look it," the professor told him. "You can stay or leave, but I would like to talk to you after class."

The student nodded hurriedly and sat back down, eyes wide open to visualize how awake he was. Havi went back to the front of the class and continued his lecture. He kept an eye on the students as usual but focused on that student now especially. How had he known Havi's nickname?

After class Clarissa smiled at Havi as the students left. He gave her a questioning look and she answered, "I'm so proud at how you dealt with that sleeping student. Normally you're much worse."

Havi smirked slightly. "He will learn not to sleep in my class again."

Clarissa sighed but was still smiling. "I'll be ready to mop up the blood afterwards."

Havi rolled his eyes as she left but then turned his attention to the sleeping student, who had stayed in his seat nervously. The student was clearly just out of high school and inexperienced. Havi also recognized him as the student who had run into him when the previous semester was still in session. It seemed like forever ago but this was definitely the same man. He also looked remarkably similar to the man in his dreams.

The student stood up and moved to the front of the class. Looking up determinedly he said, "I apologize for earlier, Professor. I have no excuse. It will not happen again."

"I certainly hope not," Havi replied, "but what intrigues me is what you were saying while you were asleep."

The student looked away slightly and his face reddened. That was when Havi noticed that the man was sweating and looked barely conscious. "I'm sorry if I disrupted class," he said when he met Havi's eyes again.

"Are you alright?" Havi asked, uncharacteristically concerned.

The student looked taken aback. "Um… yes. Don't worry about it. I'm fine."

"I'll take you to the nurse on campus," Havi said, ignoring him. He grabbed the student's arm and moved to take him to the nurse's office, by force if he had to.

The student struggled. "No! It's nothing! I swear!" The student struggled free of Havi's grip and jumped away from the professor.

Havi sighed and turned to glare at the annoying student. "Look! You clearly need some form of medical attention and if you won't get it yourself then someone needs to force you. If that has to be me, then so be it."

The student was looking at his arm, his eyes down and his face hidden from Havi. "Don't touch me…" he growled.

Havi scowled and tried to think of a way to get this annoying kid help. He normally didn't care what people did to themselves, but not even he could ignore someone so clearly out of it right in front of him. He thought about getting Clarissa to help him drag the man but knew she wouldn't help. Maybe just calling someone would be best?

Havi glanced at the student and his eyes narrowed. His skin had darkened and black marks had appeared. He glanced up at the professor and he was glaring fiercer than Havi had ever seen anyone look. His eyes had turned yellow and his ears now rose to a point. He no longer looked human.

"Well this is interesting," Havi muttered to himself.

The creature lunged towards Havi with his arms outstretched to claw at the professor. The air suddenly felt thick and full of something, the strange aura also ripping the student's shirt at the sleeves. Havi hastily tried moving out of the way of the attack, but still managed to get his arm gouged.

Havi didn't try and talk to the student but his mind was buzzing with curiosity. This clearly wasn't dissociative identity disorder because of the obvious physical changes accompanying the mental switch. But this being clearly had some great animosity towards someone, Havi assumed it wasn't directed at him specifically, and Havi needed to find some way to calm the being without being torn to shreds in the process.

Havi endured many more cuts from the monster before he realized that he's need some kind of weapon to restrain it. The problem was that on campus weapons were prohibited and so Havi was completely screwed. He decided to run for it after luring the beast away from the door, but the monster seemed to be more intelligent than he gave it credit for and started guarding the door.

"Well at least if it's over there it can't attack me," Havi sighed.

He was formulating another plan when he saw the beast's eyes flash and the air around it seemed to be buzzing with electricity. Havi's eyes widened in shock as it roared and sent a blast of energy towards him, not giving him any time to avoid the attack.


	22. Chapter 22

Havi blinked as he analyzed the situation. The blast that the monster should have killed him if the damage to the room was anything to go by. Instead something had shielded him from the blast. Havi saw the deflated body of the creature that had been attached to his head on the floor and realized that whatever the thing had been, it had somehow protected him from the insane and impossible attack.

Havi stood up, having fallen to the floor somehow, and hastily moved to look at the monster. It seemed to be suddenly exhausted. It fell to its knees and then just fell, unable to gather enough energy to support itself. As Havi approached the dark skin slowly lightened to its previous color and most of the dark marks faded, leaving only a few visible near the student's hairline.

The professor checked the student's pulse and found it racing. His temperature was also incredibly high, so Havi picked him up to take him to the college's infirmary.

The door opened and Haleceles walked in quickly, pausing only to take in the situation before moving right up to Havi and looking him sternly in the eye. "What happened here?" he asked sternly.

"I do not wish to explain at this time," Havi answered. He tried moving around the other professor but Haleceles stepped in his way purposefully.

"Give that boy to me," Haleceles commanded.

Havi narrowed his eyes. "I do not think that is such a good idea."

Haleceles sighed. "Please, Halvir. You do not know what you are getting yourself into."

Havi glanced down at the boy in his arms and replied, "I think I do… Master."

Haleceles's eyes widened. "You couldn't…"

Havi shook his head. "I do not remember everything, but I do know this. That I was once a sorcerer and for some reason I protected this man with my life."

"You do not understand!" Haleceles argued. "You cannot possibly understand the magnitude of your actions! Now or back then!"

Havi glared at him. "I believe you already know my answer to that, Master! If you are not prepared to do something about it, then get out of my way!" Havi pushed past Haleceles roughly and through the door. He glanced back at the older professor and saw no sign that he was going to be stopped.

He carried the student to the infirmary without any trouble. Clarissa had disappeared, probably at the urging of Haleceles, so no one questioned his sudden appearance with an unconscious student that had been seemingly fine just an hour earlier. Instead everyone crowded the irritable professor and his student asking what had happened. It was easy to lie to them. No one could prove that he hadn't just found the student unconscious in a deserted part of campus after all.

Havi felt exhausted. It felt like days since he'd gotten a good night's sleep, and with all the dreams he had been having his guess probably wasn't too far from the truth. Only when he set the student down did he realize the full extent of his fatigue. He nearly collapsed once he no longer needed to support the brunette.

He dragged himself back to his office and collapsed after locking the door behind him. He hoped for a night without any invasions from his past life and something granted him that simple pleasure. He slept clear through the night and into the morning until Clarissa woke him by pounding on his door.


	23. Chapter 23

Vald wasn't as lucky. Too many images and feelings filled his mind for him to make sense of it all. He saw himself attacking his professor many times, none of them believable in the least. He saw flashes of his professor in many different situations and scenarios, unable to separate one from another. But the man in these images was different from the stern professor he'd only seen a few times, this man had an allure to him that drove Vald wild with yearning.

More people also filled his mind. A small rabbit thing that floated and turned into a human and a giant creature impossible to name. A man in jail begging for help, the same man begging for food outside a church. A man yelling at him and clearly condescending towards him. And finally a man who filled too many images to name.

The last man filled his mind and blocked out the images of the others. He felt hate and pain and friendship and respect and too many other emotions that zoomed through his mind too rapidly to recognize and name. He knew this man had done him great harm and possibly betrayed him. This man was the cause for his pain! If this man disappeared then he wouldn't have to suffer anymore! He needed to kill this man!

Vald gasped awake, his emotions overpowering him and causing his heart to race. He gasped for breath and looked around.

He was in some sort of nurse's office, but probably at the college because of where he last remembered being. No one was around but a quick glance at a clock explained why. At three in the morning everyone would be asleep, even if someone was supposed to be observing him.

Vald climbed out of the bed. He knew there was no use trying to get back to sleep, and even he managed it that his dreams would return to deprive him of any relief. Something told him that what he was looking for was nearby, and whatever it was was important enough to keep him awake.

Vald stumbled around without seeing. His head was so foggy it made it hard to process the images his eyes were receiving and the dark campus made things worse. He sensed his way to his goal, not caring where it was, but that led him though bushes and across campus. He was glad that no one had taken off his shoes, though the thought was brief because his depleted brain couldn't handle thoughts lasting longer than a flash.

He hit a wall, quite literally, shortly after he stopped thinking entirely. He knew that what he was looking for was in front of him, but that a wall was in his way. He wasn't able to think about possibly knocking on the door in the wall, or considering that maybe there was another way inside. Instead he simply collapsed and stayed lying there, with no dreams to disturb his thoughts.

* * *

_Sorry for the latest chapters being relatively short, I promise to submit a longer one soon!_


	24. Chapter 24

"HEY! GET UP LAZY-ASS! THIS IS IMPORTANT DAMN IT!"

Havi woke up possibly more relaxed than ever before. So he stayed laying in his chair, unwilling to give up the bliss that was sweet unconsciousness.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING IGNORE ME! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED YESTERDAY?!"

Havi frowned and tried desperately to ignore the woman screaming at him. More bangs threatened to break his door and he figured that she'd been told to quiet down, but he was unsure if that was a good or bad thing. With Clarissa you could never know.

"Okay then," she said in a false calm. "I guess I'll just go and get my ax if you don't really need this door here anyway."

Havi sighed and moved to open the door, revealing Clarissa standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. She was glaring at him in that way friends do when they're only ticked at you rather than being full-blown pissed off.

"Good morning," she said with a grin.

Havi grunted and rolled his eyes. He moved back inside his office and sat back down on his now not-as-comfortable-as-before chair and allowed her in.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do," she continued after she shut the door behind her. "Just what the heck happened yesterday after class?"

Havi shrugged.

"Don't give me that! First I'm called away for some 'urgent business'," her tone making it obvious that it was nothing of the sort, "and when I return I find Professor Haleceles in the destroyed classroom saying that you had to take that poor student to the infirmary! And to top that off, when I came here early to question you about it, I found that same student lying on the ground outside your office!"

Havi's eyebrows rose at that last piece of news. "Where is he now?" he asked distantly.

"I took him back to the infirmary," she replied. "He looked horrible. Just what happened?! I deserve an explanation!"

"You really don't," Havi replied coldly, "but I will still supply you one. After class he and I discussed the problem of sleeping during classes and then parted ways. I found him later unconscious on the ground and took him to the infirmary. I didn't know the classroom was destroyed until just now."

Clarissa's eyes narrowed. "Do you think I'm an idiot? Give me the truth."

Havi looked directly into her eyes and said, "That _is_ the truth." He didn't like lying to her but it had to be done. No one would believe the truth, and he didn't want anyone to know that didn't have to know. "But you said you found him lying outside my door? Was there no one watching him in the infirmary? They're supposed to always have someone awake."

Clarissa shrugged. "I haven't asked them yet."

"More like interrogated," Havi commented. With a sigh he stood up again. "Then we might as well check on the kid. See if he's alright and ask why he was outside my office."

Clarissa smiled at him. "So you _do_ have a heart."

He ignored her and got out of his chair. He locked the door behind them as they left, depressed that he hadn't been allowed to sleep any longer. But the clarity in his thoughts that sleep had given him was very useful for trying to figure everything out. He was able to recall all of his recent dreams and connect them in a way that made sense. There were a lot of missing pieces, but they finally seemed like more than a collection of random memories.

Clarissa was taking again as she normally was. "Things have just been so weird lately. Well I guess weird is a bad word to use, but scary isn't right either. With those murders that started on campus, and now a student being mysteriously assaulted, it seems like something out of a novel. You agree with me right? I mean, the police don't even have any main suspects.

Havi closed his eyes and followed behind her, only contributing to her one-sided conversation when it was necessary. Instead he focused on deciding how to figure out how much the student knew about what was really going on.


	25. Chapter 25

Vald slept for four hours before the noise and light woke him up. He hadn't been conscious when Clarissa found him or even while she dragged him back to the infirmary. He couldn't remember last night but didn't care. Despite the dreamless sleep, he barely slept any better than he had been lately.

"How are you feeling?" a woman in a lab coat asked him when she saw that he was awake.

"Where am I?" he asked despite having a fairly good idea of the answer.

"The college's infirmary," she answered. "Do you remember what happened? You've given us quite a scare."

Vald stared up at the ceiling and tried to think of the last thing he remembered. "I was talking to Professor Halvir…" he mumbled more to himself than the woman, "but then… I… I don't know. Sorry."

The last word was addressed to her and she inclined her head in acknowledgment. "It is perfectly alright. We have already talked to the professor and he hasn't been able to tell us much either." She seemed to realize something and then gasped, "Oh excuse me! I should be more concerned with how you are doing!"

Vald smiled weakly at her. "I'm alright," he answered.

He didn't notice the blush that filled her face because she turned to hide it from him. "That's wonderful then! Well while I'm not allowed to give you much if you are in pain, I can drive you to a hospital to get a prescription if you would like. I am sorry we are not able to do more for you."

Vald sat up, his smile not having gone away, and said, "Anything you can give me will be fine, I'm sure. I really am not in much pain at all."

She nodded and left to get the little amount of painkiller she was allowed to offer him. She brought him water to swallow the pills and watched as he gulped them down and grunted in pain. "Are you sure there's nothing I can do for you?"

He shook his head.

"Well then I regret to tell you that the police want to see you as soon as you're able. Do you mind?"

His eyes widened but he shook his head and said, "No I don't mind. Why?"

"They think whoever attacked you might be the one behind the recent murders. I've told them that your condition was completely different than the victims, but they insisted."

"What was my condition?" Vald asked.

She smiled. "Just a few scrapes and bruises. You seemed more drained than anything. I'm sure the reason you feel so much better is because of your good night's sleep. Oh, speaking of which, do you often sleepwalk?"

Vald smiled. "I have been recently. Sorry if I scared someone, but I normally come back to bed after wandering around all night." Vald didn't want to say that on the few occasions he'd woken before returning home that he'd been near a recent murder victim. That would make it seem like he was the murderer, and he was certain that he couldn't be.

There was a knock on the door and two professors walked inside, one smiling widely and the other looking solemn as always. It was Professor Halvir and his friend who had been in class the other day.

"Is he accepting visitors?" the woman asked kindly.

The nurse, Vald assumed she was the equivalent if she wasn't actually called this, nodded with a smile. "You're the professor who found him wandering around last night, right?"

The professor nodded. "Call me Clarissa." Addressing Vald she said, "Well you've had quite the day. How are you?"

"Fine," Vald answered. He looked at Professor Halvir who seemed to be analyzing him for something. "Um, thanks I guess for whatever happened. I don't really remember anything after we were talking yesterday."

Halvir inclined his head but said nothing.

Clarissa nudged her friend. "Don't mind him. He's not always so tight lipped. We were both really worried about you. Do you think there's a reason you can't remember anything?"

"I am more curious as to what you _can_ remember," Halvir said before Vald could answer.

Vald glanced at him and saw that there was something intense about his gaze. Something that might have meant something if he could remember. "I remember apologizing for falling asleep during class, but nothing after that," he said directly to the professor.

Halvir nodded and the nurse instantly turned on him. "How dare you lecture this poor boy when he was so clearly exhausted?! I hear too much about you, Halvir! Stop being so horrible to the students!"

Clarissa smirked and said, "I don't think that's possible."

Halvir rolled his eyes. "Well than if you're satisfied that he's fine, we both have classes that we need to get ready for."

Clarissa muttered, "Hypocrite," but she smiled and waved while following the professor out.

"You have him for a class?" the nurse asked Vald.

He smiled and nodded.

She glanced at the door and said, "Well if you ever need anything, I'll be here. That man, honestly. It's a wonder he's still a teacher."

Vald smiled but didn't say anything.


End file.
